Murari Das Blog

Those who are seers of the truth have concluded that of the nonexistent [the material body] there is no endurance and of the eternal [the soul] there is no change. This they have concluded by studying the nature of both. Bhagavad Gita 2.16 This verse seems enigmatic and mysterious at first glance like some of the verses from the Upanisads, but by understading the difference between spirit and matter, the pieces fall into place.

The three gunas are the influences behind everything that manifests in the material world. Every object, every thought, word and deed, is caused and influenced by them. The only things in the material world that are not a product of the three modes are the living entity and the Lord (which includes His name and paraphernalia etc). The spirit soul bewildered by the influence of false ego thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by the three modes of material nature. Bg 3.27  There is no being existing, either here or among the demigods in the higher planetary systems, which is freed from these three modes born of material nature. Bg 18.40 We can call the sum total of material energy as Prakriti and within that, there are the three divisions, sattva, raja and tama. And then the Lord and the living entities who bring life to the dull material elements. Krishna speaks a lot about the three modes in Bhagavad Gita. they are relevant from chapters 13 t